Chapter 112: The Black Bear Spirit Opens a Fruit Stand!

Chapter 112: The Black Bear Spirit Opens a Fruit Stand!

With the fruit stand project for the Black Bear Spirit now confirmed, Zhang Lin turned to Lin Mengyao and instructed, "Mengyao, since this is settled, have the HR department follow up. Build a stall and make sure to provide ample space for the bear and the horse to move around."

"For the specifics, coordinate with the operations department. For constructing the stall, contact Liu De, and for printing signs and such, I’ll send you the contact for Millennium Advertising via WeChat. You can reach out to them directly."

"Sure, Mr. Zhang!" Lin Mengyao nodded.

After receiving the task, she immediately returned to her office and summoned two HR employees. She assigned one to liaise with the operations department and the other to contact Master Liu from the agricultural department.

She opened her WeChat and received the phone number for Millennium Advertising from Mr. Zhang.

Online

The popularity of the Black Bear Spirit and the White Dragon Horse continued to soar.

However, the buzz began to wane after just one day.

Without any new videos being posted, the interest couldn’t be sustained.

Many fans who had been following the Black Bear Spirit and the White Dragon Horse felt disappointed and even left comments on Linyuan Farm’s social media, urging for more videos.

Yuan Bingbing and Lin Lele, two close friends, were among them.

"Hey, why isn’t Linyuan Farm posting more videos of the Black Bear Spirit and the White Dragon Horse?" Yuan Bingbing pouted after leaving a comment.

She had been the one to post the video of the Black Bear Spirit stealing the cassock and the White Dragon Horse, which had gone viral, giving her a great sense of accomplishment and a fondness for the two creatures.

She had expected Linyuan Farm to capitalize on the popularity and post more videos, but there had been no activity for an entire day and night.

"Hmm, Linyuan Farm just posted an announcement recruiting animal caretakers. They must be looking for someone to take care of the Black Bear Spirit and the White Dragon Horse," Lin Lele said suddenly. "Bingbing, what do you think about applying for the job?"

"Really?" Yuan Bingbing leaned in immediately.

They were both graduates of the animal husbandry program in the agricultural and forestry department, making this job a perfect fit.

Moreover, they felt it was fate. Why else would they have been assigned to this major, struggled to find work after graduation, and then stumbled upon the Black Bear Spirit at Linyuan Farm during a visit?

They had originally come for the flower fields but ended up filming a video that went viral.

Being young women, they were emotional and could find any excuse to follow their hearts.

For this reason, they didn’t leave Youcheng and booked a two-day camping tent to capture more videos of the Black Bear Spirit and the White Dragon Horse.

At that moment, Lin Lele exclaimed, "Bingbing, look at Linyuan Farm’s latest video. In two days, the Black Bear Spirit will be opening a fruit stand at Linyuan Farm."

Yuan Bingbing’s face was full of confusion. How could a bear run a fruit stand?

She immediately opened Linyuan Farm’s social media and found the latest video titled: "Linyuan Farm’s Latest Project Preview!"

When she clicked on the video, a narrator’s voice said, "In two days, Linyuan Farm will welcome a new boss who will open a fruit stand to sell fruit. It’s the Black Bear Spirit!"

"Is that it?" Yuan Bingbing was dumbfounded after watching the video.

The video ended without even showing the bear.

But her curiosity was thoroughly piqued.

After all, how could a bear run a fruit stand?

They weren’t the only ones; fans and netizens who saw the project preview video were also intrigued.

Was this just a gimmick, like some tourist attractions where an animal is placed next to a stand, and a human sells the fruit, calling it an animal-run stall?

That would be insulting their intelligence.

But Linyuan Farm had only provided this short video and narration, leaving everyone itching for more. Comments flooded in, and discussions began.

This was a classic example of scarcity marketing, and the result was that the simple project preview video went viral.

At Linyuan Farm

Meanwhile, everything was proceeding smoothly at Linyuan Farm.

Zhang Lin, led by Lin Mengyao, arrived at the stall prepared for the Black Bear Spirit.

The stall was located behind the office center, covering an area of a few hundred square meters. The perimeter was enclosed by a large fence, and outside the fence was a platform for displaying the fruit.

Posters from the animated series featuring the Black Bear Spirit’s battle with the Monkey King and his disciples were plastered all over the fence and platform.

There were also signs explaining why the Black Bear Spirit was opening a fruit stand, based on the story Lin Muxue had told.

All of this had been produced by Millennium Advertising.

Upon receiving the job from Linyuan Farm, Lin Yao had completed everything as quickly as possible.

The top of the fruit stand was a bamboo canopy, providing protection from the sun and rain.

At that moment, Lin Mengyao’s phone rang.

After answering, she reported to Zhang Lin, "Mr. Zhang, two girls have applied to be caretakers for Little Black and the White Dragon. Do you want to see them?"

"Let’s go!" Zhang Lin nodded.

Zhang Lin and Lin Mengyao headed to the office center together.

Xiaohei and Bai Long weren’t ordinary animals, and there might be more special animal rewards in the future. So, after some thought, Zhang Lin decided to hire two professional animal caretakers to take care of these creatures. He would also need to find a specialized veterinarian.

When they arrived at the office center, Zhang Lin was somewhat surprised to see two young women applying for the positions.

These two girls were of the cute and adorable type, and it seemed hard to associate them with animal caretakers.

"President Zhang, President Lin, here are their application materials," an HR employee handed the documents to Zhang Lin and Lin Mengyao.

Zhang Lin took a look at the documents and found that the two girls were indeed from the animal care program, with various certificates and experience caring for animals at school. However, their actual animal care experience was a bit lacking.

"Why do you want to apply as animal caretakers at our farm?" Zhang Lin asked the two girls.

Yuan Bingbing immediately replied, "We posted the video of the black bear spirit stealing the monk’s robe online. We really like them, and we can take care of them while earning a salary. Why wouldn’t we apply?"

Zhang Lin didn’t expect her to counter with a question.

Clearly, she lacked interview experience.

However, he didn’t expect that the viral video was shot by these two girls.

The HR employee then added, "The video was indeed shot by them!"

Hearing this, Zhang Lin turned to Lin Mengyao and asked, "Mengyao, what do you think of them?"

Lin Mengyao looked at the two girls and said, "President Zhang, aside from their lack of experience, their appearance and demeanor are very good. Moreover, the fact that their video went viral shows they have a connection with Xiaohei and the others. We can have them play the roles of the little demons from Blackwind Mountain, taking care of Xiaohei while manning the fruit stand."

"Since that’s the case, let’s give them a trial period," Zhang Lin agreed, finding her reasoning sound.

These two adorable and cute girls had a very good image.

At the very least, they would be a pleasant sight for the visitors.

Time passed quickly.

Two days later, Linyuan Farm was bustling with activity. At the camping site, many curious tourists who were interested in the black bear spirit’s fruit stand were already asking the staff.

However, the staff only had one answer: the black bear spirit was still sleeping and would open the stand once it woke up.

This wasn’t a scripted response; Xiaohei really did love to sleep in.

Before its resting place was completed, Xiaohei was temporarily housed in an area of the office center.

When Zhang Lin arrived early in the morning, Xiaohei was still sound asleep on a soft cushion.

He then went to his office and checked the game data in his mind:

Level: 4

Upgrade Requirements:

1. 622 workers (622/200)!

2. Earn 30 million in profit (5,245,634/30,000,000)!

3. Develop 10,000 acres of agricultural land (3,785/10,000)!

4. Gain 1 agricultural honor (0/1)



Bank Account: 62122614

Balance: 5,245,634.25 RMB

Agricultural Area: 7,000 acres!

Game Constructions: Prefabricated houses, warehouse, service center, bamboo maze, bamboo culture park, office center, camping site (under construction)



Three days had passed, and the balance had finally recovered, breaking the 5 million mark again.

Now, Linyuan Farm could host 15,000 visitors daily.

The profits from fruits, honeysuckle tea, and the restaurant amounted to about 500,000 RMB daily.

For the comfort of visitors, the bamboo maze still had a daily limit of 5,000 tickets, generating 250,000 RMB in ticket sales.

There were two flower seas, but considering that the colorful flower sea would attract more visitors, the ticket limit was increased to 7,500, with a ticket price of 50 RMB, generating 375,000 RMB.

The two camping sites had significantly reduced the pressure on visitor numbers. The Linyuan Farm campsite had game attributes, so even if visitors couldn’t get tickets for the flower sea or bamboo maze, many still found it pleasant to stay there for a day.

As for the northern camping site, with fewer options, many visitors settled for it, at least it was close to the farm and could accommodate everyone.

Thus, the two campsites generated 1.5 million RMB in accommodation revenue daily, plus other sales and services within the camps, totaling 2 million RMB.

However, since the southern camping site was built with a 40 million RMB interest-free loan, 1.4 million RMB of the income went directly to the bank to repay the loan.

In other words, before the 40 million RMB was fully repaid, Linyuan Farm’s daily income was around 1.6 million RMB, not including construction costs, labor, and utilities. Additionally, he still owed 20 million RMB to Kailin Investment for the farm’s development.

In short, aside from the farm’s asset value, he was still in debt.

The area, however, did not include the 40,000 acres that Ka Lin Investment had acquired.

He guessed the reason; although the purchase contract had been signed, the information at the business administration office had not been updated yet. He would need to take care of that at some point.

It should be fine once that's done.

At that moment, his cousin, Zhang Zhao, called. Zhang Lin answered, and Zhang Zhao's voice came through: "Xiao Lin, I'm here."

"Ge Zhao, four people, right?" Zhang Lin asked with a smile.

"Right!" Zhang Zhao replied.

"Wait a moment, I'll be right there." Zhang Lin hung up and opened his office drawer, revealing several sets of Liyuan Farm tickets.

These were prepared by Lin Mengyao.

In the future, whenever friends or relatives visited, he could simply give them these tickets. For example, when Director Zhao came to enjoy tea, Zhang Lin could give him some tickets to distribute as benefits at the bureau or to family and friends.

This was a matter of social courtesy.

Was his cousin the type to worry about a few ticket fees? Definitely not. With his uncle backing him, even if Zhang Zhao left the police station, he could still live a carefree life as a second-generation rich kid.

The real issue was that the tickets were hard to come by, as tourists snapped them up too quickly.

Zhang Lin took out four sets of tickets and left the office center, riding his scooter to the parking lot.

At the parking lot, Zhang Zhao was already there with his girlfriend and her two friends.

It was a rare day off for him, but his girlfriend insisted on visiting Liyuan Farm to see the "Black Bear Spirit" fruit stand. Although Zhang Lin didn't understand what his cousin's farm was all about, if his girlfriend wanted to see it, he would accompany her.

If he didn't pamper his beautiful, fair-skinned, and well-figured girlfriend, someone else might.

"Xiao Jie, let's wait a moment. My cousin will bring the tickets over soon," Zhang Zhao said, holding an umbrella over his girlfriend.

"Hey, Zhao Jie, look how considerate your man is!"

"Exactly, I wish I could find a boyfriend like that."

The two friends were clearly not fond of this display of affection.

Zhao Jie, however, smiled contently. She was very satisfied with her boyfriend. Not only was he in a stable job at the police station with a promising career ahead, but he also came from a wealthy family and was very affectionate.

She was confident that if she broke up with him, she wouldn't find anyone better in Youcheng.

So, his occasional busyness was a minor issue she could overlook.

After a short while, Zhang Lin arrived on his scooter and handed the tickets to Zhang Zhao: "Ge Zhao, here are the tickets. Hello, Sister-in-law!"

The term "sister-in-law" clearly pleased Zhao Jie.

"Xiao Lin, where is this Black Bear Spirit fruit stand?" Zhang Zhao asked, knowing his girlfriend wanted to see it.

"Ge Zhao, you'll have to wait a bit; the bear hasn't woken up yet," Zhang Lin explained. Just then, he received a call from Lin Muxue. After answering, he immediately said, "Okay, I'll be right there."

He then turned to Zhang Zhao: "Ge Zhao, I have something to take care of, so I'll leave first."

After Zhang Lin left, one of Zhao Jie's friends playfully said, "Zhao Jie, I didn't expect your boyfriend's cousin to be quite handsome. Our Jiajia is still single. As her best friend, shouldn't you introduce her?"

Zhao Jie smiled and asked the other friend, "Jiajia, what do you think? Do you want your sisters to introduce you?"

"Let's not, I'm not interested right now!" Chu Jiajia shook her head, even showing a hint of displeasure.

What a joke! Both of her friends had excellent boyfriends, and Zhang Zhao was even better. Now they wanted to introduce her to someone riding a scooter?

She suspected Zhao Jie was just messing with her. Even if you found someone good for yourself, introducing your cousin's friend to your best friend was one thing, but not at the expense of your friend's feelings!

The other friend, however, was curious. "Zhang Zhao, your cousin works at Liyuan Farm. Do you know who the owner is? I heard the boss of Ka Lin Investment is a big shot, but he was thoroughly defeated by the owner of Liyuan Farm."

Hearing this, Zhang Zhao said proudly, "My brother is the owner of Liyuan Farm. Didn't Zhao Jie tell you?"

This news clearly stunned Zhao Jie's friend.

"???" Chu Jiajia also stared dumbfounded at Zhao Jie, realizing she had misunderstood her friend.

This was a good friend, offering her a chance at incredible fortune.

"Zhao Jie, you said you'd introduce me to Zhang Zhao's cousin!" Chu Jiajia quickly tugged at Zhao Jie's sleeve.

"Um!" Zhao Jie was taken aback and asked, "Jiajia, didn't you say you weren't interested in dating?"

"If I find someone I like, I might consider it!" Chu Jiajia quickly smiled. "It's all about destiny, right?"

"..." Zhao Jie didn't know how to respond.

Zhang Zhao, on the other hand, couldn't help but roll his eyes.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end